The Mind is a Strange Thing
by TamaraneanOnMars
Summary: He was in Artemis's mind! But- But he couldn't be! That was scientifically impossible! This had to be fake, couldn't be real. Of course he wasn't watching Artemis's memories - scientists didn't even know for sure where the memories are stored in the brain yet! Everything could be explained by science, and this couldn't, so it had to be some sort of trick. Wally/Artemis. COMPLETE!
1. Wally Wanders Where He Shouldn't

**Eeeeeeee Here we go. This won't be as long as my other multi-chaptered things - it's only a three shot, but, y'know, it's something. The chapters are probably gonna be really short - lord knows this one is - but I'm trying my best. (Of course the next thing I write is Spitfire. I can't stay awaaaaay.)**

**Title: **The Mind is a Strange Thing

**Characters/Pairings: **Artemis, Wally, Wally/Artemis

**Summary: **He was in Artemis's _mind_! But- But he couldn't be! That was scientifically impossible! This _had_ to be fake, _couldn't_ be real. Of course he wasn't watching Artemis's memories - scientists didn't even know for sure where the memories are stored in the brain yet! Everything could be explained by science, and this couldn't, so it had to be some sort of trick.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Young Justice, or any of it's characters.

* * *

'_M'gann, what are we doing here again?_'

Wally leaned against a large tree, crossing his arms and scowling. He was in his black stealth costume, since they were in a forest at night, so bright yellow would look just a bit strange to anyone passing by - not that anyone was. The place was completely deserted, minus him, M'gann and Artemis. Robin was busy helping Batman, Kaldur was helping to take care of Orin and Mera's baby and Connor was doing an individual mission. So, it was only the three of them.

'_Didn't you listen?_' Artemis answered instead from beside him, sending him a look that clearly said that he was an idiot, which he was not. He had listened, but it seemed pointless. Really, civilians's minds being attacked? The only villain he could think of that could do that was Psimon, and he wouldn't waste time on civilians.

He sent her a glare. '_Of course I listened! What do you think I am, an idiot?_' He retorted, and the look that appeared on the archer's face was smug.

'_Do you really want me to answer that?_'

'_Ugh, what I meant,_' Wally glared at her and she seemed to get even more pleased with herself, which made his temper flare. He tried his best to control it. '_was that the story was obviously fake. Psimon isn't going to waste his time attacking civilians. He isn't going to gain anything!_'

'_You might be right..._' Came M'gann's worried voice in reply. She was looking around the rest of the forest to see if she could spot anything, leaving Wally and Artemis alone. Wally had protested, saying that Artemis could check out the forest and him and M'gann could have some 'quality time' (he had said this in such a suggestive tone that Artemis had to smack him on the back of the head), but M'gann had said that it would be easier for her to do it since she could fly. Damn human limitations. '_Maybe we should just go ba-_'

Jesus _christ_, his head _hurt_.

Wally cried out, clutching his head as he felt a burning sensation tear through it, vaguely aware of M'gann and Artemis's cry's echoing through his head, before cutting off abruptly. His mind felt like someone was ripping it open and hitting things. He fell to his knees, eyes wide. He stopped screaming and let out a continuous stream of gasps. He heard a thump and out of the corner of his eye, saw Artemis falling to the ground, unconscious. He squeezed his eyes shut and fell down beside her, so that her head was just touching his shoulder. He breathed in and smelt the strange combination of pine and lavender (really, what shampoo did she use?) and then everything went black.

**~0~0~0~**

When Wally opened his eyes, he couldn't feel the ground under his feet.

He slowly realized that that was because there _was_ no ground. He was floating in the middle of never ending darkness, in his civilian clothing, for some reason. His head was still hurting and he tried to put a hand to his temple but felt nothing. He frowned with confusion and tried to look for anything in the darkness that wasn't himself. Just as he was doing this, there was a blinding green light. He tried to cover his eyes, but, once again, he couldn't, so just squinted as the green slowly died down. Once it was safe for him to open his eyes properly again, he realized what - or who - he was looking at.

He was looking at himself.

He frowned with confusion. He watched himself walk into the kitchen in civilian clothes. The Wally he was watching (to make it easier, lets just call him 'screen-Wally') walked up to M'gann, who was pulling out a tray of cookies that didn't actually seem half bad. Screen-Wally grinned and took one, despite the fact that they were probably hot. "They look great, Megalicious." He said, taking a bite and winking at the Martian. Just then, the Wally watching noticed Artemis sitting at the island, scowling at him.

'_God, can't he see that she's not interested? Idiot._'

Wally's eyes widened. That sounded like Artemis's thoughts through the mental link, but it was louder and seemed to echo through... wherever he was. So... was he still linked to her? But, by the looks of it, that's what he had been thinking while sitting at the island, watching him flirting with M'gann. His widened even more as he realized where he was.

He was in Artemis's _mind_!

But- But he couldn't be! That was scientifically impossible! This _had_ to be fake, _couldn't_ be real. Of course he wasn't watching Artemis's memories - scientists didn't even know for sure where the memories are stored in the brain yet! Everything could be explained by science, and this couldn't, so it had to be some sort of trick.

But he knew it wasn't.

There was another green explosion of light and suddenly he was in the Bio-ship, the night sky visible through the large window. He remembered this. It was one of those rare moments were him and Artemis weren't at each other's throats, and were actually laughing together as the rest of the team just talked among themselves. He didn't remember what they were laughing about. He just remembered he felt frighteningly happy.

'_Wally's actually... okay, I guess._' He heard echoing, and he allowed himself a slight smile. So she did like him... a bit, at least. That was nice to know. Sure, she was annoying as Hell, but he was her friend. It was good to know that he was her friend too. But then he got hit by a sudden wave of something... it was like that frightening happy feeling he had gotten, but it wasn't him feeling it. He thought for a moment and mused that if he could hear her thoughts and see her memories, then he probably could feel her emotions.

There was another flash, and by now he was used to it, so he didn't even flinch. He was actually curious to what the next memory would be. He was surprised, however, to find himself looking at a dingy apartment in desperate need of a paint job. In the room, there were two single beds with lilac quilts and, for some reason, and Alice In Wonderland poster decorating one of the walls. He looked back at the beds again, and on the one to his left was a small girl.

She had a blonde ponytail and was wearing denim overalls, one of the straps broken. She couldn't have been older than nine or ten. There was a deep cut on her arm that hadn't been treated well at all, since some blood stained the white tee shirt she wore. She was rubbing her shoulder and her expression was hard, far too hard for someone her age. Wally watched her curiously for a moment, before she pulled her hand away from her shoulder to reveal a scar. He had seen that scar on Artemis's shoulder once, and she said it was just one of those scars that couldn't heal. That meant that this angry young girl was Artemis.

Artemis shook her head and stood, walking out of the room. Wally seemed to float after her, and soon she was sneaking out of the apartment, out of the building and into an abandoned one. She seemed to glance around to see if anyone was there before making her way to a crate in the far corner. '_Daddy might be home soon._' Her heard her think as she reached into the crate and it was laced with fear. Wally frowned. Why was she scared of her Dad?

She pulled out a grey bow and some arrows and Wally almost rolled his eyes. '_Figures._' He thought as she started shooting at different crates. Seems that all she had were simple, metal tipped arrows. This carried on for a while and Wally almost found her gleeful expression cute. Every now and then, she would have to go around and re-collect her arrows before continuing.

"ARTEMIS!"

Artemis froze, sudden terror on her face. Immediately, she collected her arrows and shoved them in the crate she got them from, closed it and quickly got rid of any trace of fear on her face. '_Fear is a weakness._' She thought and Wally honestly had no idea how to react. Before he could work it out, there was the sound of footsteps.

"You shouldn't be here. Were you using your arrows again?"

Wally's eyes widened as he heard a gruff voice and he squeezed his eyes shut as he heard the sound of skin against skin, like someone hitting someone else, and the sound of a little girl's pain. "I told you that the bow is a useless weapon. You were told not to use them. Disobedience is not welcome in our profession. We don't stand for it. Do you understand?" Silence, then the sound of pain again. "Do you?" Wally felt her fear fill him and wanted to protect her, wanted to stop this man who he assumed was her father from hurting her, but this was in the past. He couldn't do anything.

"Y-Yes. I understand."

He opened his eyes again to another flash, but this time, there was darkness. He wondered what had happened for a moment, before a light was turned on and Artemis walked in and he realized that she was walking into the Mount Justice living room. She was in a too-big green tee shirt that reached her knees and her hair was down and messy. She yawned, and noticed screen-Wally on the sofa she same time Wally did. He was in a grey tee shirt and red flash pajama trousers. He was lying across the sofa with an arm draped across his middle, and he was snoring. Loud. Artemis snorted and the Wally watching immediately became increasingly embarrassed.

'_That's actually kinda cute._' She thought and hearing this echo around him numerous times, he almost died of shock. Artemis? Thinking he was cute? Impossible! Artemis hated everything about him and was constantly pointing out how he always looked like either an idiot or an even bigger idiot, bordering on dimwitted. Artemis smiled, with surprising softness, at him before thinking '_I better just let him sleep. If only I had a camera, though._' (Wally huffed at this) and left, turning off the light after her.

As soon as the light was out there was another flash. Wally couldn't help but think that this was really repetitive. Plus, why was it green, of all colours?

Suddenly, he was seeing her lying in bed, in the tee shirt she had been in a moment ago, her face extremely confused. He mused that this was probably the same night. Almost immediately, her thoughts were bombarding him. '_Did I really think Wally looked cute? He was drooling, for God's sake! On what world, in what universe is drooling cute?! Not to mention, he is a complete jerk to me. Really, why does he have to treat me like that when he treats the rest of the time like his best friends? What did I do? He is such an idiot._'

Okay, she did have a bit of a point. He guessed he wan't exactly civil with her, but she was unfair to him too! This time, the flash took him by surprise and he squinted, but nothing came afterwards this time. When he opened his eyes, everything was black. He scanned around him for a moment, wondering if anything would happen. When nothing did, he felt like sighing. It was a bit boring.

There was a burning pain in his head again, not unlike the one he had felt before, and he lost consciousness.


	2. Artemis's Turn!

**This took way too long for something so short - why am I incapable of writing anything of decent length lately?**

**I wrote about one quarter of this and them I got hit by some major writer's block. It's the devil, guys.**

**(I just spent like two hours watching hilarious videos from a guy on Youtube. **

**_Jesus take the wheel_.)**

**Title: **The Mind is a Strange Thing

**Characters/Pairings: **Artemis, Wally, Wally/Artemis

**Summary: **He was in Artemis's mind! But- But he couldn't be! That was scientifically impossible! This had to be fake, couldn't be real. Of course he wasn't watching Artemis's memories - scientists didn't even know for sure where the memories are stored in the brain yet! Everything could be explained by science, and this couldn't, so it had to be some sort of trick.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Young Justice, or any of its characters.

* * *

After Artemis's had split open (or, it felt like it), everything was dark for a moment - a moment that seemed to last for years.

She squeezed her eyes shut, but it made no difference whatsoever. Either way, the never ending darkness seemed to smother her from all angles. Where the _Hell_ was she, anyway? No, forget that - what the_ Hell_ was this _God damn_ pain in her forehead?! She groaned inwardly, the pain still tearing through her skull. It was even worse than those fleeting headaches you get that only last a minute but are ten times more painful than normal ones - it was worse and it was lasting much longer. It had even gotten more painful since it had first started and she had fallen into the mud.

She realized that she should probably open her eyes to see is something - anything, really - was happening. She resisted the urge to close them again after she did so, as immediately her eyes met a blindingly bright... grey light? What the Hell? Why was it grey? Before an explanation was provided, however, the light died down and she's looking at... she's looking at... the mountain?

Not just the mountain - she was looking at Wally.

He strolled down the beach, kicking the sand and mumbling to himself in a very childish manner. He was in his civilian clothing, what he had worn when they had gone to check the Helmet of Fate, which was weird. She swore that before she had fallen unconscious a second, a minute, and hour ago, she didn't really know, he had been in his black Kid Flash costume. She had assumed that she had woken up, but realized that she still wasn't standing on anything. '_Okay... so, I'm delusional._' She thought, probably looking as annoyed as Wally did.

Wally stopped walking and Artemis tried to open her mouth to tell him... tell him... _something_ but her mouth wouldn't move. She tried again. And again. And still, Wally didn't notice her presence. He ran a hand through his hair and his expression turned from annoyance to guilt.

'_Ugh... I am such an idiot._'

Artemis's eyes widened. What... was that... Wally? But his mouth didn't move. Come to think of it, it didn't sound like his voice. Okay, so it did, but it sounded... louder. And it was like it bounced against the invisible walls of wherever she was, like an echo.

'_Why do I have to be so bitter? I lashed out at her just because I was embarrassed... but I guess she didn't have to make fun of me like that. And in front of M'gann, too!_' A brief scowl appeared on his face but was gone in a second, and Artemis wondered what the Hell he was talking (thinking?) about. '_It's her fault that Roy's so mad, too. She didn't have to taunt him like that. Why did she have to be so... so... defensive? It's not my fault that she was a few years too late to be the best archer available... Wow, do I really sound like that?_'

Oh.

So_ that's_ what he's talking about.

Artemis scowled and imagined how satisfying it would be to hit him over the head at that moment. But then she took a look at his guilty face again and the pitiful way he was kicking the sand and running his hand through his hair, and part of her melted. Okay, so she could be a bit nicer to him in the future.

A_ bit_.

There was another flash that took her by surprise and the Wally before her seemed to disappear into nothing, along with the sand, the sea and the mountain. The birds she could hear over the beach were gone and a moment later were replaced by the sound of wind rushing past her and the feeling of adrenaline pumping through her veins. She wondered what had happened for a moment and just as she thought '_So, I definitely haven't woken up, that's for sure._', she realized what was happening.

She was _running_.

And it was _amazing_. Buildings rushed past at such a pace that they weren't even buildings anymore; there were dull grey blurs that suddenly meant nothing to her. People around her were staring and it made her want to laugh how they became blurs too - blurs of pink and brown with hints of a shocked expression. She could hear people voices merging together to make a sound that was so strange, so unusual that it made the experience even more thrilling.

Then it dawned on her how fast she was running.

She couldn't run this fast - no human, no _normal_ human, which she was, even if she wore a cowl and beat up bad guys, could run this fast. Only a metahuman could run this fast, and it had to be one like...

Wally.

She had seen him on the beach... and now she was witnessing him running. She could hear his thoughts. She was... were these his memories?  
Was she in his _mind_?

She processed this for a moment, the thrill of running still giving her a giddy feeling that she was trying to ignore, and all she could think was; '_I'm surprised theres more here than hot air._'

Yet another grey flash, and the thrill was lost. In fact, what she was looking at was actually kind of boring - but in a freaky way. It was freaky because she was looking at herself.

She was wearing her green uniform, which was ripped and torn, stained with mud, blood and sweat. Her hair was down and also had mud in it, along with some twigs. Her eyes were closed and she was curled up on the couch in the Mount Justice living room. Her quiver was broken and the only arrow she had was a broken one, which seemed to have fallen out of the quiver and onto the floor. Artemis (the one watching) blinked in confusion. '_I got really beat up._'

It seemed that Artemis was so deep in sleep that when the computer announced 'Recognized Kid Flash, B03', she didn't even move. She just mumbled slightly. A moment later, Wally entered the room, perfectly clean and dressed in civilian clothing. He freezes when he sees Artemis, the grin that had been on his face falling.

'_The mission was hours ago... why is she still... ?_' He thought as he walks towards her, and the Artemis watching expects him to shake her and wake her up, or tell her that she's being lazy, or something like that. Instead, Wally notices her shivering slightly and softens. He scans the room, frowning, before he has an idea and runs out of the room. A second later, he was back, holding a blanket. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, before he placed it over her.

_Wally West_ placed a blanket over a sleeping _Artemis Crock_.

When the blanket was over her, she snuggled into it, still deep in sleep. And Wally _smiled_. It wasn't the amused smirk he sends her when he's mocking her, it's not the triumphant grin he wears when he's won an argument against her. It's not the smile he sends to her when he knows she's looking. It's a _genuine_ smile, like how he smiles at M'gann but with meaning behind it. It's _soft_ and _kind_ and _caring_ and... and...

And Artemis is scared as _Hell_.

There's a flash again and this time the grey is so blinding that her eyes actually hurt for a moment and the pain in her head reaches new levels of painful and stays like that as she regains her vision. She finds herself looking at her team, and funnily enough, it's one of those times that she had one of those fleeting headaches before mentioned, because Wally is talking right in her ear. The whole team are in the living room fit to go to sleep, watching 'Scott Pilgrim Vs The World'. Of course, Connor and M'gann are near each other (Artemis has no idea why they've been so close lately), Dick and Kaldur are on one half of the couch and Wally and Artemis are next to each other on the other half. It's funny how they always end up beside each other.

He was poking her and smirking as she glares at him. "I swear, Wallace, if you do not stop poking me I will snap your neck."

Wally simply shrugged in response and stopped poking her. He starts swaying in a way so that he bumped shoulders with Artemis and she growled.

"Stop. _Swaying_."

"Sure." He grins and stops swaying, as she had said - instead, he started humming at a volume Artemis didn't know it was humanly possible to reach whilst humming.

"Ugh!" Artemis threw up her hands in frustration and her glare intensified. "Will you _stop_?!"

Wally grinned and momentarily stopped humming. "What do you think?" He asked chirpily, before moving on from 'Just the Girl' to 'She's Got You High'. Artemis let out yet another noise of frustration and shoved him so hard that he fell to the floor. The room fell silent and everyone turned to him. His face was bright red and he was struggling to get up. Artemis was the first to break the silence by letting out a full laugh. His face afterwards was priceless - a mix of anger, embarrassment and slight awe - why he was awed, she had no idea.

There was a flash again and Artemis expected something else because she was starting to actually get curious as to what would come next, despite the pain in her head. She expected more of the team, or maybe the two of them fighting, or hopefully more running, because she had loved that.

But she was simply greeted by darkness.

She inwardly groaned. Last time there was darkness like this it lasted for God knows how long and it was so boring. She waited for a moment, waited for the grey flash to blind her and for the memory that waited afterwards. She waited for Wally being an idiot or the team on the beach or herself so angry steam was practically coming out of her ears. But, sadly, nothing like that came. 'Ugh, what now?' She thought testily, and quickly afterwards she got her wish - something happened.

The pain tore through her skull again and consciousness slipped away from her.**  
**


	3. Hearttoheart Kinda

**THIS IS SO SHORT AND BAD UGHUGH.**

**I forgot what I was going to do with this chapter and had to make it up as I went along.**

**I'm so sorry.**

**/sobs**

**/crawls under a rock**

**/dies**

**Title:** The Mind is a Strange Thing

**Characters/Pairings:** Artemis, Wally, Wally/Artemis

**Summary:** He was in Artemis's mind! But- But he couldn't be! That was scientifically impossible! This had to be fake, couldn't be real. Of course he wasn't watching Artemis's memories - scientists didn't even know for sure where the memories are stored in the brain yet! Everything could be explained by science, and this couldn't, so it had to be some sort of trick.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Young Justice, or any of its characters.

* * *

'_Wally, Artemis! Wake up!_'

M'gann glanced down at her friends lying in the mud, eyes wide. Her mental commands didn't seem to be working so, just after she levitated one of the thugs into a tree, she kicked Wally. She probably did so too hard, because he rolled over so that his and Artemis's faces were inches apart. She groaned and a thug took this distraction to tackle her, but she saw it coming and kicked him to the ground.

"Ugh! WAKE UP!" She screamed, losing her patience, which didn't happen often, but if they didn't wake up then she would have to fight off dozens of thugs and Psimon, who she could tell was coming, on her own while protecting them. That did not sound like a winning fight. She punched a thug in the face, which she didn't do often, but he was really close, so she had acted on instinct.

It seemed that her screaming had done the trick, since Wally stirred. He opened his eyes groggily and for a moment he just lay still, registering the fact that he was laying on top of Artemis and their faces were inches apart. Eventually, he stood in a millisecond, letting out a noise of horror. His noise of horror seemed to wake her, and she stood, rubbing her head.

"Could you help please?!" M'gann demanded, and that was enough to send the two into action. It didn't matter if they were just in the other's mind - they could put that aside for later. Artemis pulled out her bow and shot one of the thugs on the leg in no time, but he continued to pursue her, so she went with a simple kick in the face. It wasn't as strong as it could have been, since she had just woken up, but it still did the trick. He fell to the ground, unconscious, and she moved on to another, using some of her explosive arrows.

While this was happening, Kid Flash was running at a group of the thugs and punching and kicking them at super speed, the flash of black startling them and giving him the perfect opportunity to deliver blow after blow, so in a minute, four of them were out cold. He continued this pattern for some more of them, man after unconscious man falling to the mud, then started fighting at normal speed, to save his energy.

The fight didn't last too much longer. The smoke from one of Artemis's exploding arrows created the perfect cover for Wally to attack them without them knowing - he had always prefered the sneak attack. The smoke seemed to last forever, and as Wally witnessed Artemis take out the last thug, he wondered what had happened to M'gann.

'_Wally, we need to clear this smoke._' Artemis told him mentally, and he nodded, before running laps around the smoke cloud. It slowly started lifting and disappearing into thin air, but things still weren't clear for him, as he was running at such a high speed. He stopped and shook his head to clear it, only to see Artemis standing and watching M'gann. The Martian was standing completely still, in a position ready for battle, and parallel to her stood Psimon, looking similar to how she did in stance and expression.

They just stood and watched for a moment, wondering if there was anything they could do to help. They hadn't been there when M'gann had done this is Bilaya - they had been told about it, but still hadn't seen how to help. So they just stood in silence, watching to two's faces turn to ones of concentration. Eventually, Artemis turned to Wally and spoke bluntly. "You put a _blanket_ on me."

He blinked, mouth falling agape. "What?"

Before Artemis could respond, a cry of pain sliced through the air and they turned to see Psimon was the one screaming, falling to his knees and clutching his head as if holding it tightly enough would take away the pain. They watched in horror as he slowly sank to the ground, unconscious, pain still evident on his face.

M'gann let out a sigh, catching their attention, and began to fall. Wally, being the speedster, was there in less than a second and caught her before she hit the mud. As she slowly opened her eyes, Wally asked her if she was okay. She said she was, and he helped her up, before frowning.

"So, care to tell us what the Hell just happened?"

**~0~0~0~**

"So, Psimon's mental attack went wrong and sent us into each other's minds?"

The three sat in the living room of the cave hours after the mission, in their civilian clothing. M'gann had refused to tell them after defeating Psimon with the promise that she would later, after she had a chance to talk to Batman. Well, it was later, she had told them, and now they were both looking extremely uncomfortable.

"Yes, after I tried to resist it - that's what I just said." M'gann answered with a sigh. She had had a long day, and her temper was more active than it usually was. She sent Artemis a look bordering on exasperated, and Artemis didn't take it kindly, crossing her arms and looking away.

"I was just making sure."

M'gann shook her head as she stood, and her expression turned to one of exhaustion. They couldn't blame her. That mission had been hard - much harder for her then it had been for them, even if they had been in someone else's mind. M'gann left the room without another word, and Wally guessed that she was going to sleep. It would make sense.

Him and Artemis didn't move for a moment, frozen in place. Both of them were wondering what the other had seen. It was obvious why Artemis was terrified, and Wally was wondering if she had stumbled across anything particularly embarrassing and would use it against him. Eventually, he decided to get it over with and cleared his throat, catching her attention. "So, uh... what did you see? Y'know, in my mind."

She didn't answer for a moment, and Wally was starting to think that she hadn't heard by the time she did. "At first you were on the beach. I could hear your thoughts. You were in the same clothes that you wore to the whole Doctor Fate thing, so I'm guessing it was after that. You sounded really guilty."

Wally found his cheeks heating up and looked away. "Oh. I remember that. How much did you hear, exactly?"

"Everything."

"...Oh."

A small smile appeared on her face as she continued, remembering the thrill of running at such speeds, and the adrenaline rush that came along with it. "And then I was running. It's actually... kinda fun." Wally smiled too, nodding, but didn't say anything. Her smile disappeared and her face was emotionless as she was telling the next memory, still not knowing how she felt about it. "Then I saw myself. I was pretty beat up. I was asleep on the couch in my uniform and you came in and put a blanket over me. That was... nice of you, I guess."

Wally blushed furiously and crossed his arms, looking away from her again. He didn't know how he always ended up looking at her. "I... you're my team mate. It's not like I hate you."

Artemis sent him a_ look_. "Could've fooled me. Anyway, you were being annoying, then I woke up. I've told you, now you tell me." She turned herself towards him and tried to stop her voice from sounding worried. "What did you see in my head?"

Wally huffed, crossing his arms. "I'm not annoying."

"Wally."

"Yeah, yeah, fine." He grumbled, relaxing his arms and sending her a weak glare that he didn't really mean. "Uh, first, I think it was you, me and M'gann in the kitchen - she is interested in me, by the way." This glare did have some fire behind it, and her face looked ever so slightly uncomfortable. "Then we were on the bio ship and talking, laughing at something." His face softened at that.

He didn't continue for a moment, and Artemis rolled her eyes, sending him an impatient look. She shoved him, with little force, on the arm. "Wally, hurry up, I don't have all night."

"Sorry." He mumbled, and Artemis frowned at the sudden sombre and angry tone to his voice. "I saw, uh, this girl. She was - I'm pretty sure she was you. She couldn't be more than ten." Artemis tensed but Wally didn't notice. "She - you - went to this warehouse and was shooting arrows, but a man came and started punishing you." He gulped and looked up at her, concern evident in his emerald eyes. "Artemis, who was that? Why was he hurting you?"

"What did he say?!" She demanded, ignoring his question and standing, fists clenched. Wally sent her a weird look and turned to her fully before answering.

"He said that he had told you not to use arrows and that, quote, un-quote, 'disobedience isn't welcome in our profession'."

"He didn't say anything else?" Artemis asked, worry now flooding her voice, which she wasn't happy about, but she couldn't help it. Wally shook his head and she sighed, relief flooding through her as she took a seat once again and put a hand to her temple.

Wally shook his head. "Artemis, who was he? Why was he hurting you? What did he mean by 'our profession'?"

"Wally, it's nothing - drop it." Artemis insisted with a glare, but Wally didn't listen and placed a gentle hand on her arm, even more concerned than ever.

"You can tell me, Artemis. I'm your friend." He said softly, and she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, her expression pained.

At first, Wally thought she was going to tell him, but was proven wrong when she shook off his hand and stood, sending him a furious look. Wally thought that he might have been able to see regret somewhere in her eyes. "I told you to drop it!" She practically shouted. "It's my business, my past, and I don't have to tell you. If you were my friend, you would know when to stop, okay?!" Wally knew not to answer, and after a second of him listening to her laboured, angry breathing, she turned away from him and stormed out of the room, not seeing the guilty expression on Wally's face.

In the corridor, Artemis barged past M'gann, who was holding a tray of cookies she was bringing them after not being able to sleep and cooking because she couldn't think of anything else to do. She blinked after the blonde, then at the cookies, then at Artemis again. She sighed, shaking her head. They were burnt anyway.

**~0~0~0~**

_Knock, knock._ "Hey, Artemis?"

She didn't answer.

_Knock, knock, knock._ "Artemis, are you in there? I know you're in there."

She decided to stay silent once again.

"If you don't open the door I'll tell M'gann that you think I look cute when I'm asleep."

The door was open in almost an instant, and Artemis glared at him as he stood at the door of her bedroom. She had been trying to get some more sleep, therefore her hair was messy and she was only in a grey sleeveless shirt and shorts she wore to bed. He was fully dressed, but didn't look refreshed. He looked guilty, with a hint of amusement at how he had got her out of her room.

"What are you talking about?" She seethed, and amusement flashed across his face for a moment.

"I was in your mind, remember?"

She groaned. "Fine, I opened the door. You can't tell her. Bye now." She moved the close the door, but he put his foot in the doorway, stopping her and making her even more irritated. She opened it and sent him a glare, opening her mouth to say something before he interrupted her.

"Why were you still asleep? It's ten in the morning." He asked with a confused look on his face.

Crossing her arms, she rolled her eyes for reasons she didn't understand. "I couldn't sleep last night. What do you want, anyway? To ask me more about what you saw? Maybe you want to know how I got every scar on my body?"

"No, I'm here to say that... uh..." He rubbed the back of his neck with his palm nervously, feeling the tips of his ears go red. He didn't know why it was so hard. It was only two measly words, why wouldn't he say them? Was he really so proud that he couldn't admit he made a mistake?

"Spit it out, Wally." Artemis snapped - she was tired and cranky, and didn't have time for this.

"Yeah, right, uh. I just wanted to say that I shouldn't have been asking you that because it's your life, not mine and I'msorryokay?" He said the last words in a rush, but at least he said them, shoulders relaxing. She blinked at him and didn't speak for a moment, making him feel more and more like an idiot. He shuffled from foot to foot, and eventually she smirked.

"You're being awfully nice lately." She said with good humor in her voice, crossing her arms, and Wally grinned, glad the silence was over.

"I am allowed to be, you know." He replied without missing a beat, and she rolled her eyes. She didn't know why. But he was acting so Wally that it was automatic - not that she was complaining. It was entertaining when he acted... how could she put it, Wally-ish.

"Yeah, well, thanks, but I kinda want to get some sleep." She said with a smirk, but Wally could tell by the look in her eyes that he was forgiven. Just before she closed the door, she hesitated, and stopped Wally before he walked away. "Hey, by the way, do you want to watch Scott Pilgrim again later?"

Surprise flashed across his face but then he smiles genuinely, and it's so similar to the one Artemis saw him wear when he had put a blanket around her in one of his memories that part of her melts in a way that she's not sure if she likes or not. "Sure." He tells her before turning and walking away.

"No humming this time!" She calls after him with a smirk and she hears him laughing just before she closed the door. She sighed and fell onto her bed, worming her way under the quilt and frowning. Did she really just ask Wally to watch a movie with her?

'_Did you really? And what's this about you thinking he's cute?_'

Artemis's eyes widen as M'gann's voice echoes through her head and she sits up, furious.

'_You were listening?!'_

**~FIN~**


End file.
